IGC's Freon alternative gains market foothold

By now, almost everyone knows that Freon is environmentally incorrect. Media reports during the past 10 years have linked chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) found in Freon and similar refrigerants to destruction of the earth's ozone layer. In 1987, the United States and 93 other countries signed an agreement to end production and use of CFCs such as Freon by the turn of the century. A ban on Freon's production and importation took effect in the United States in January 1996.

The ban resulted in short supplies and skyrocketing prices for Freon R-12, the most commonly used variety of Freon gas. It also spurred the development of less expensive alternatives for use in automobile air-conditioning systems, walk-in coolers and freezers, food storage and display cases, vending machines and refrigerated trucks. One alternative for automobiles, R-134a, requires a special system that is installed in most newer-model cars. Cars with R-134a systems cannot use Freon, and cars with Freon systems cannot use R-134a without expensive conversions.

Another alternative that has been gaining visibility lately is a product developed by Latham-based Intermagnetics General Corp. (IGC), manufacturer of super-conductive materials, high-field magnets and cryogenic refrigeration equipment. IGC's product is FRIGC FR-12, a CFC-free blend of refrigerants formulated to mimic the operating properties of Freon R-12. FRIGC is compatible with Freon R-12 systems and quickly is becoming the alternative of choice for older cars and stationary systems.

FRIGC FR-12 acts like Freon R-12 without the ozone-depleting side effects. IGC says its product is 150 times less ozone depleting and has eight times less global warming potential than Freon R-12, and it has less ozone-depletion potential than all other blends created to replace Freon R-12. FRIGC was the first alternative to be accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in all mobile air-conditioning and certain stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.

IGC kicked off a massive marketing and distribution campaign in May designed to alert service professionals and consumers to the benefits of FRIGC. The campaign must be working, because sales of FRIGC have increased steadily.

"This product is in a great position to be successful," said Gary Hamilton, senior vice president and general manager of InterCool Energy, an IGC wholly owned subsidiary that oversees the company's refrigerant operations.

"The demand for Freon R-12 is about 100 million pounds per year in North America. Once the Freon is gone or priced too high, people will have to choose between alternatives like FRIGC or expensive retrofits to use R-134a. We expect to be a dominant player in this market," Hamilton said.

Because IGC uses refrigerants to produce magnets, its engineers had the expertise to develop refrigeration products. In 1992, when a group of power companies put up a $30 million incentive to develop a more environmentally friendly refrigerant, IGC was prepared to do the research and development.

An IGC subsidiary, APD Cryogenics Inc., in Allentown, Pa., began working with Chrysler to design a product in 1993. IGC received its first patent for FRIGC's use as a refrigerant suitable for closed-cycle, or stationary, refrigerant systems in November 1994, Hamilton said. A second patent issued in June 1995 allowed the material to be used as a replacement for Freon in automobiles.

In March, IGC announced an agreement in which AlliedSignal Inc. will manufacture FRIGC FR-12 in its Louisiana plant. National Refrigerants Inc., and Pennzoil Products Co. are the lead distributors of FRIGC FR-12 in North America. The product also is marketed in Europe and Asia.

Pennzoil rolled out the product in its Jiffy Lube locations last fall. Jiffy Lube, a division of Pennzoil, services about 120,000 cars a day across the United States at 1,400 locations, said Andy O'Connor, a Northeast sales representative for Pennzoil. About half of the Jiffy Lube stores provide automobile air-conditioning service, and these are located mostly in the southern states. The seven Jiffy Lubes in the Capital Region currently do not service air conditioners, but they will service them by next spring, he said.

O'Connor expects the demand for FRIGC to increase as the cost of Freon R-12 continues to rise. "There are 120 million cars on the road today in the U.S. that have R-12 systems. Before all of these cars go away, R-12 will run out; and as the supply diminishes, the price will increase. It wouldn't surprise me if by next summer people are paying $1,000 for a 30-pound cylinder for R-12, if they can get it at all," he said.

FRIGC costs significantly less than Freon R-12, and that gap in price is growing rapidly. Wholesale Freon prices ranged from $13 to $22 per pound last summer, while FRIGC hovered at about $10 per pound.

Other Freon R-12 substitutes on the market are less expensive, at about $5 per pound, but they require costly modifications to the vehicles that use them. O'Connor said retrofitting an average vehicle for R-134a could cost between $300 and $800, because it involves changing the hoses, compressor and desiccant. Replacing the R-12 with FRIGC costs only about $100, he said.

FRIGC's major customers have been public and private fleet vehicles including U-Haul International, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and state and municipal fleets. "We received public endorsements from the states of California and Pennsylvania," said Hamilton, of IGC's IntercoolEnergy. "They will use FRIGC for all applications as they use up supplies of Freon."

Locally, cars used by police in Menands, Watervliet and other parts of Albany County have been running on FRIGC. Many of these cars are serviced by Roberts Body Shop in Watervliet. "If the air conditioners need to be recharged, we've been using FRIGC because it's cheaper and we only need to switch over a few adaptors, " said Roberts' office manager, Suzanne Jack.

Opinions about FRIGC's performance vary, but drivers say it keeps their cars cool. "You wouldn't know that it's not Freon. It does a nice job cooling, and it's pretty instant. The car cools down within 30 to 60 seconds of turning on the air conditioning," said Menands police officer Edward Joy. The Menands Police Department fleet also includes several newer cars with systems that use R-134a. Joy said there have been no complaints about temperatures in those cars either.

"FRIGC works extremely well, and the performance is equal to, or better than, R-12," said Pennzoil's O'Connor. "In the conversions I've seen, it also gives cooler dash temperatures and lower head pressures that R-134a."

Colonie Toyota service manager Thomas Sinkora is not convinced that FRIGC works as well as Freon R-12, but he likes the fact that it's much less expensive and available, and that he did not have to retrofit any equipment to use it. That's why Colonie Toyota recently bought a pallet of FRIGC for customers driving older-model cars.

"It [Frigc] installs the same as Freon, and it's cheaper and more available," Sinkora said. "In terms of cooling a car, it works almost as well as Freon, but not quite."

Sinkora said he does not plan to buy much more of this coolant because Toyotas manufactured since 1992 have R-134a systems, and those cars are serviced only with R-134a coolant. He said the need for FRIGC will diminish as older cars are replaced.

"Eventually, R-12 and FR-12 systems will be phased out, and the demand for Freon replacements will go down," he said. "If someone had a problem with their air conditioning, we would try to convince them to convert to a R-134a system rather than repair the leak and pour in FRIGC, so they would have the newest system available."

Rick Reynolds, co-owner of RH Crown of Johnstown, a wholesale distributor for automotive and janitorial supplies, agreed that the market for FRIGC is temporary.

"As cars that use R-12 fade away, the market for replacements will fade away also. They might make a case for conversion of R-134a systems to FRIGC, but I don't think that will happen," Reynolds said. "I don't think that people are complaining that their air conditioners aren't cold enough, at least in the Northeast."

People who have used FRIGC in stationary systems seem to be more optimistic about FRIGC's future, although most say it is too early to tell.

"So far I'm very happy with the results, but I'd like to see at least a year without any problems," said Tom Palombo, service manager for Pepsi-Cola Albany Bottling Co. in Latham. He installs and services vending machines, large glass coolers, walk-in freezers, ice machines and draught beer equipment at small stores, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels throughout the Capital Region. He has been using FRIGC for about five months.

"We are constantly looking for replacement gases for R-12, and we want them to work as well as R-12 did and act the same," Palombo said. "I need a refrigerant to act under all conditions, [including] in the heat of the summer or when there's a malfunction in a fan and the system overheats. I need to see how it will take its toll on my systems through time. FRIGC seems to be less demanding on the mechanics of our systems than other refrigerants we've tried in the past because it mimics R-12."

Although it costs more than some other refrigerants, he said FRIGC saves customers money since it is compatible with their existing systems and performs more efficiently.

"The energy consumption with FRIGC is less than when I use other substitutes, and it's compatible with the oils in the compressors, so I don't have to change all the oils when I convert a system to FRIGC. I can just drain and recover the R-12 and replace it with FRIGC," Palombo said. He also likes the convenience of being able to "top off" a FRIGC tank with more FRIGC, something not recommended with other refrigerants.

Drop-in capability results in huge time savings for maintenance crews. "There's not as much work involved," said Matthew LaClair, director of engineering for the Albany Marriott in Colonie. His crew recently replaced leaking coolant in a kitchen freezer with a sample of FRIGC sent by InterCool.

"With previous repairs, we had to drain the Freon, then drain the oil out of the compressor and clean it with solvents before we put in the new refrigerant, because the new products had a chemical reaction with the oils in the compressor. This took several hours," he said. "With FRIGC, it only took about an hour, because we can use the same oil that's in the compressor and the freezer keeps working."

Savings in time, cost and energy, combined with environmental protection, add up to huge benefits for FRIGC's customers. It also may add up to an economic boost for the Capital Region. This summer IGC expressed a desire to expand manufacturing capability of InterCool to manufacture hardware necessary to install FRIGC FR-12 into Freon R-12 systems. About 35 to 50 jobs would be created as a result of the expansion. The company narrowed its choices to a facility in Schenectady and a facility it owns in Allentown. A decision is expected next month.

"As our company grows, more and more jobs will be added to manufacturing equipment and marketing support," said InterCool Energy's Hamilton.